Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 December 2022
646. Deputy Joe O'Brien asked the Minister for Health the provision that his Department has made to help address the mental health needs of persons who have arrived in Ireland under the Temporary Protection Directive to date in 2022. [62267/22]
View answerThe Government is committed to delivering a humanitarian response to Ukrainians seeking refuge in Ireland as beneficiaries of temporary protection (BOTP). The Department of Health is collaborating with the HSE to ensure that refugees have access to the same range of health care services as Irish and EU citizens.
BOTPs are entitled to apply for a medical card that provides access to free health services for each adult and child dependents. These services include mental health and psychosocial services. The initial psychosocial and mental health response has involved: community mobilisation and support, including facilitating and supporting access to self-help and social supports, the building of capacity within health services through training in the area of cultural awareness, working through interpreters and on trauma informed care, and the provision of accessible information on the full range of health services available.
BOTPs experiencing mental health difficulties while residing can access supports in line with normal admission and referral procedures. The range of mental health services delivered by, or on behalf of, the HSE is extensive, and ranges from the promotion of positive mental health and mental health services in primary care, to specialist community and in-patient mental health services. Some of these supports have been tailored and/or translated with the needs of arriving Ukrainians in mind and will complement the general suite of mental health services. These include mental health information in Ukrainian and Russian, peer supports and more formalised person-centred services delivered by the HSE and funded partner organisations, including MyMind, the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Aware, SpunOut and others. MyMind has recruited Ukrainian speaking therapists and is currently accepting Ukrainians for counselling and psychotherapy, free of charge, in English and a range other of languages.
I continue to work with colleagues across Government to ensure health and other humanitarian supports are made available for Ukrainian refugees arriving in Ireland.
